My Headphones only work halfway plugged in

Question

My earphones only work when I plug them halfway, but only on the laptop. When I do that on my Iphone 4s there is no sound and If I plug the whole thing in I only hear the background noise. I think its something from the jack, but when I move the wire closely to the jack it works for a second and then disappear again.

Where do you think the problem is?

Solution 1

I thought my headphones were messed up. Tried them in 2 computers, and they would only work when halfway unplugged. I tried cleaning them off by wiping the plug and it didn't help, but then I tried again another day, cleaning the plug more thoroughly and now they work great again. They are the 3 conductor band type with 2 little insulator sections between. It seems that conductive dust or something can get on the insulator that isn't even visible and make them not work. Try this first before more drastic steps. Hope it helps.

Solution 2

Have you tested another earphone? Sometimes when the wires are broken or in a short circuit in earphones, earphones exhibit this behavior. If that is the case, it should be replaced.

Comments

[Delyan]

I have the same issue with both my earphones. The ones are SOL Republic Jax, the other ones are SoundMagic. They are both above the regular price for earphones. I am kindly disappointed of what happened and I don't know where the problem is. The SOLs are still in warranty, but I bought them from the United States and right now I am in the UK. I was wondering what is the isse and how could I fix it.